<1000 days to the MDGs: Data Dashboards to Monitor the last Stretch

Data on Millennium Development Goals (MDG) indicator trends for developing countries and for different groups of countries are curated in the World Development Indicator (WDI) database. Each year we use these data in the Global Monitoring Report (GMR) to track progress on the MDGs. Many colleagues, as well as non-Bank staff, approach us on a weekly basis with questions regarding where their region, or country, or sector stands in regard to achieving the core MDGs. Oftentimes in the same breath, they will also ask us whether or when we expect that a particular country or region will meet a certain MDG.

With less than 1,000 days remaining to the MDG deadline, work on the Post-2015 agenda is in full swing. In response to the growing demand for additional info about GMR analytics and the underlying data, we developed a suite of open and interactive data diagnostics dashboards available at: http://data.worldbank.org/mdgs. Below is an extract which summarizes the progress status towards meeting various MDGs among countries in various regions, income and other groups. Select different indicators and highlight categories of progress status to interact with the visualization.

Select an MDG Indicator

Using any type of device (smart phone, tablet, laptop or desktop) and any type of operating environment (Windows, Android or iOS), people everywhere can now access our data and GMR diagnostics at any time. The dashboards enable exploring and comparing data trends and targets for all countries, regions, income and other groups such as fragile and conflict situations. They also allow for comparing MDG progress status by indicator across different groups and vice versa. And a separate dashboard provides details of the progress towards each MDG target in each country and includes our projected trends (for 2015 and 2030) based on two different methods: one which bases its outlook on the pace of progress made since 1990 and a second method which extrapolates based on the progress achieved over the last five years. Both methods obviously have their pros and cons, but it provides the user with at least two benchmarks to make their own assessment of whether a country, region, or group of countries is on target to achieve the core MDGs.

We hope our many clients, including any new clients we have reached through this blog post, will find this useful. We welcome and look forward to receiving feedback to help us improve the content and functionality.

Comments

The charts are deceiving frankly as they only show progress without giving a baseline from where things stood when measurements begun. Obviously regions that had already achieved or nearly achieved the MDGs look much worse in these charts than those that started from a very low base. The law on diminishing returns applies in development as well and the closer you are to reach 100% of achievement the more difficult it gets to make progress. Consequently some regions seem to be performing well on some aspects while in fact they are way behind compared with their peers. Attention to this fact is completely missing here.

Great work done her. Another important aspect is the year of the data that is included in these charts. While it refers to Global Monitoring Report 2013, many figures there are from 2010 or even earlier. As an example, I was recently updating MDG progress for Cambodia U5MR and IMR indicators and there is a clear evidence that 2015 targets were met in 2005 for both indicators, but when you look at the Asia Pacific region % of countries that met the target for these indicators is 0.

Farhod: Here is a detailed explanation to clear up any confusion. I hope you’ll find this helpful. The MDG is to reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR). According to our data for Cambodia, in 1990 the U5MR was 117 and the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) was 85. This implies that the MDG target values for these indicators are, respectively, 39 and 28 (i.e., 2/3 of the 1990 rates). In 2011, our most recent data for Cambodia, the U5MR was 42.5 and the IMR was about 36. In other words, the MDG target value for neither indicator was achieved by 2011. Our 2013 GMR assessment suggested that Cambodia has made sufficient progress in recent years and is likely to meet both the U5MR and IMR targets by 2015. You can use one of our dashboards (http://data.worldbank.org/mdgs/trends-and-projections-of-each-mdg-indica...) to see the full time series of data since 1990 for both these indicators for Cambodia as well as our projected trends. The visualization embedded in this blog post shows that in the Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Region 21 percent of countries have achieved the U5MR target values (the dark green shaded bar chart section) and that 17 percent have made sufficient progress (the light green shaded bar chart section) and are on track to achieve the target value. No country in this region has yet achieved the IMR target value and only 8 percent of countries (i.e., 2 countries) have made sufficient progress to be on track to achieve the goal. Cambodia is one of those two countries.

Thank you Johan for detailed response. I based my note against local targets for Cambodia MDGs that were defined here by the Government and my fault not to check the global targets. Below is the link to 2011 progress report.

We demonstrated the visuals that you have on your website to National Institute of Statistics and working with them to work on similar to be based on their web. Will share it once completed.

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